The Theatre at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) in North
Branch will present L.A. Theatre Works? presentation of
War of the Worlds/The Lost World
, Thursday, March 12, at 7 p.m. The science fiction double-bill is
part of the Theatre?s
Merck Series
, made possible by a generous grant from The Merck Company
Foundation. Tickets cost $25 and $30.

War of the Worlds
recreates the breathless pace and convincing details of Orson
Welles? infamous 1938 radio broadcast by his Mercury Theatre of the
Air. The live broadcast of an ?eyewitness report? of an invasion
from Mars caused a nationwide panic as listeners, who thought they
were listening to a real newscast, attempted to flee. The Mercury
Theatre used an updated adaptation of H.G. Wells? 1898 novel by
Howard Koch, who changed the time and location from Victorian
England to a small town on the East Coast of the United States in
1938, making the story more personal for listeners.

The Lost World
, adapted by John de Lancie and Nat Segaloff from a short story by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is a hilarious spoof. Professor Challenger
leads a harrowing four-person expedition through remote South
American jungles to settle the validity of his claim that
prehistoric animals still exist. The campy pulp adventure classic
follows this scientific expedition deep into the Amazon rain forest
and back in time.

L.A. Theatre Works uses innovative technologies and top actors
to produce and preserve significant works of dramatic literature on
audio. LATW?s syndicated, weekly radio theater series can be heard
on NPR stations nationwide.

Launched in 2005, L.A. Theatre Works? National Touring Program
has expanded the company?s mission to provide access to significant
works of theater by audiences nationwide. The repertoire ranges
from originally commissioned topical docudramas such as
The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial
and
Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers
, to classic comedies such as
Private Lives
. For additional information, visit
www.latw.org
.

For the fifth year in a row,
Courier News
readers voted The Theatre at RVCC as the ?Best of the Best? in 2008
in the ?Playhouse/Theater? category.

This season The Theatre at RVCC is presenting the
Major Artists Series
; the 17th annual
Merck Series
;
School-Time Performances
, a series for teachers and students grades pre-K to 12; the
Family Series
, a series of events designed specially for families with older
children; and the
Sampler Series
, a series of transformational events for children and their
families. The current season also offers a new series,
Tuesdays with Stories
, which features great American literature performed by solo actors
from The American Place Theatre.

Subscriptions are available. To purchase tickets or for more
information, call the Box Office, 908-725-3420, or order online at
www.rvccArts.org
. Senior citizen, student and group discounts are also available
for a variety of performances.

RVCC, located on Route 28 and Lamington Road in North Branch,
NJ, and serving Somerset and Hunterdon County residents for 40
years, offers more than 90 associate degrees and certificates. In
addition, customized training programs and non-credit courses are
available for those seeking personal and professional
development.

The College is committed to offering a quality and affordable
education through effective teaching, liaisons with the community?s
businesses and state-of-the-art technology. For further
information, visit
www.raritanval.edu
.